Cain Sczepanski was a student whose pride in his education ran deep. His family attributes that to the great educational experience and the inspiring LISD educators who worked with Cain. In the hopes of paying forward the great things done for their son, the Sczepanksi family established the Cain Sczepanski Award for Excellence in Special Education.

The award is given each spring in Cain’s memory and honors Special Education personnel in LISD. Honorees are chosen from nominees submitted by parents of students in LISD’s Special Education programs and LISD staff. Congratulations to the 2015 winners!

Ida Bishop, Lewisville High School: Ida is known for her joyful selflessness and dedication to students that extends beyond the school day. She has provided clothing and grooming items for students in need. Ida guides students to better choices, focuses on “life lessons” and teachable moments, and puts an emphasis on a student’s ability, rather than challenges.

Paula Bruner, Forestwood Middle School: Paula is known for her ability to make each student feel special through her positive, loving and supportive approach. A valued member of the Forestwood MS team, she received their first ever Staff Member of the Month award.

Deborah Corbet, Hebron High School: Deborah is known for her commitment, diligence, and leadership. She established Hebron’s Video Game Society for student’s with Autism. Additionally, she assisted with the Special Education department’s paperless conversion, creating easier access and greater accuracy in documentation campus-wide, ensuring teachers know how to best serve students and students get what they need to be successful.

Donna Davis, Wellington Elementary: Donna is highly respected by her colleagues, and praised for her unending patience and positive attitude. Her tireless determination in helping each child make progress and experience success has earned the trust and gratitude of the parents and children with whom she works.

Lindsay Lovett, Homestead Elementary: Lindsay is known for her kind, caring approach to teaching each child. She strives to enrich learning through projects and field trips, and is constantly looks for new ways to engage her students in learning.

Summer Swindell, Focus on the Future: Summer is known for her eager, helpful spirit, reliability and professional rapport with students. In her role as Lead Job Coach for Focus on the Future at Purnell Support Center, she coaches students and works with employers to develop job positions for them within the community.

That instruction seems straightforward, but what if the engine isn’t in a vehicle? And what if the recipients of the instruction are Automotive Technology students in Brad Warren’s class at Lewisville ISD’s Career Center East? That makes the instruction a bit more daunting.

That’s the scenario students were faced with this year, as the Auto Tech program seeks NATEF Certification, a designation that will increase the value of students’ coursework and make them more employable upon completion. With recent studies indicating a looming mechanic shortage, the creation of a NATEF certified program in LISD benefits students as well as local auto shops who will gain access to a pool of highly-qualified automotive technicians.

One of the certification components the Auto Tech program was lacking was the ability to work with an engine on an engine stand. Warren sought LEF funding to purchase the engine and stand, and in August, LEF awarded the funds. Warren worked with CCE Principal Jeff Wagley to stretch his dollars by pooling them with campus money, allowing the purchase of a mid-2000s truck engine and stand.

“I was pleased to be able to partner with LEF to get our Auto Tech program the tools needed to gain NATEF Certification,” Wagley said. “It’s not just about one new tool or one certification, this is something that allows our students to really live their learning. When they can put their hands on the engine and troubleshoot the things they learned in the manual, learning becomes real.”

Real learning makes a difference. “Most of us didn’t know how to change the oil in a car when we signed up for this class,” Hebron High School Junior Kevin Sorie said. “Now we can identify almost any engine problem you throw at us.”

Students truly began at the beginning. “I brought the motor to the shop in a crate,” Warren said. “I told the students to make it run. Of course, there was instruction and guidance every step of the way. They needed a power source. They needed a cooling system. They figured things out and made it run. Now I can put faults in it and they can identify them and correct them. The students have come a long way.”

The majority of Warren’s students intend to pursue careers in the automotive industry. “This class really helped me explore my options,” Marcus High School Senior Colton Stokfo said. “Thanks to what I learned in here, I have an idea of what I want to specialize in down the road. More importantly, I have a job after graduation.”

Parents, teachers and students wonder that each day. For many, the answer is simple: whatever comes next in a standard progression. What about students whose standards are different? Students in LISD’s Focus on the Future (FoF) program are broadening their horizons and discovering their options for what comes next thanks in part to grants from the Lewisville ISD Education Foundation (LEF).

When FoF students age out of public school they need to be prepared for big changes. They have always received transportation to school. That ends. They aren’t likely to have a driver’s license. They need to be prepared to navigate public transit and find their niche so they have a daily routine that benefits them. The goal of FoF is that they will be prepared to thrive.

LEF is proud to support FoF in two ways. The first is Project Search, a high school transition program whose objective is to generate higher-skilled workers and see students gainfully employed when they leave their local school district’s special education program. The partnership is between LISD, Medical Center of Lewisville (MCL), Project Search, Texas Department of Assistance and Rehabilitative Services (DARS), and Quest Employment Agency. These organizations work together to place FoF students in internships as they approach the end of their public education, with the hope that students are gainfully employed at the end of their internship.

Project Search places students in positions where they will hone skills that will transition to other jobs. Some of those are work-specific skills, such as filing paperwork or verifying expiration dates on hospital medications. There are other skills, like learning appropriate workplace interaction, learning to seek the natural support offered in a workplace and building co-worker relationships, and learning to navigate public transportation as they are learning skills to transition into their adult lives.

In 2013, eleven FoF students participated as Project Search interns at MCL. LEF provided iPads for the students. (They were not on a campus served by LISD’s 1:X program, which provided iPads to many of LISD’s 53,000 last year.) The iPads enabled students to use photos and videos for training, to engage in role-play, and then to critique their own efforts at completing assigned tasks. For example, interns at MCL used photos of appropriately configured surgical trays as a guide when preparing trays for sterilization.

Starfish Creations is the other aspect of the LEF/FoF partnership. Students who participate in Starfish creations either were not selected for Project Search or are not old enough to be eligible for Project Search. Their days are spent in a campus setting in FoF where they learn skills that will benefit them in the community. Some students participate in bead stringing and jewelry making. Others work to maintain Starfish Café – a café in which students provide meals to paying customers. These students learn to count change, take orders, roll silverware, wash dishes, launder napkins, greet customers and prepare simple dishes. Another group of students works in a print shop setting or a silkscreen shop. The skills they gain in these settings enable them to pursue real world opportunities. Earlier this spring several students were offered jobs in local screen-printing businesses because they were able to hit the ground running thanks to the skills they learned in FoF. One student actually had competing offers.

LEF funded a high temperature dryer for the silkscreen shop, increasing the number of shirts the program can produce, thereby giving the program greater real-world application. LEF funds also provided silverware and napkins for Starfish Café, increasing the opportunities for students to learn skills they can use in their future, like laundry, dishwashing and, should they seek restaurant employment, the rolling of silverware.

For FoF students, what’s next is success thanks to FoF’s strong program and support from LEF donors.

Preserving the memory of Cain Sczepanski, a Lewisville ISD student whose life touched all who knew him, while honoring LISD educators whose daily work changes children's lives, is what the Cain Sczepanski Award of Excellence in Special Education aims to do. Through the Lewisville ISD Education Foundation, six LISD special educators were honored this spring.

The Cain Sczepanski Foundation in Special Education was created by Bill, Carolyn and Cara Sczepanski in memorial to their son and brother, Cain. Cain lived for 24 years with Down syndrome and heart defects. He died on March 7, 2011 of a heart attack. Cain spent 18 years under the guidance of dedicated LISD instructors and para-professionals. The Award of Excellence was created by the Cain Sczepanski Foundation in Special Education to annually recognize special educators who demonstrate classroom excellence. This spring LEF honored six teachers with awards.

"Thank you for honoring our educators with this award," former Highland Village Elementary Principal Shawna Miller said. "You could not have chosen more deserving recipients. What an extra special treat for them to be honored with an award in memory of Cain!"

The 2014 honorees are:

Lisa Cranfill, Highland Village Elementary Lisa, who has been teaching special education for six years has a three-fold philosophy: build relationships to benefit the student, every student can learn, and allow yourself and your student to have fun in the process.

Kristen Crenshaw, The Colony High School Kristen, with two years of special education experience, started the Bravo4Brian initiative. That initiative is one of many ways she demonstrates her passion for her students inside and outside of the classroom.

Juli Foreman, Flower Mound High School Juli is an 11-year special educator whose long term commitment to the students in the Academic Life Skills class at FMHS inspires parents and fellow educators alike.

Marcia Gackle, Focus on the Future Inspired by her own son who has a form of muscular dystrophy, Marcia has spent the last 18 years working in special education. Her personal experience and professional expertise combined to benefit many LISD students and their families.

Galen Hoffert, Arbor Creek Middle School Galen, who has taught special education for six years, creates an inviting learning environment for all students and accepts every student for who they are.

Leslie McReynolds, Donald Elementary Leslie is a 21-year art teacher who believes every child deserves a chance to let their soul communicate and celebrates what makes students extraordinary.

The Lewisville ISD Education Foundation is pleased to announce Lewisville High School Social Studies teacher Rob Borenstein as the 2014 Ted Barnes Award for Excellence in Education.

This award was established by Ted Barnes, who taught at LHS for 25 years before losing his battel with cancer.

According to Mr. Barnes request before his passing, the honorarium is awarded to a current Lewisville High School teacher or administrator who who has served at LHS, demonstrating outstanding educational service, for at least 10 years. In recent years the criteria expanded to include teachers at LHS Main as well as LHS Harmon and LHS Killough.

"I was truly honored to be chosen for the Ted Barnes Award," Borenstein said. "I never met Mr. Barnes, but have heard good things about him and that Farmer Pride ran deep in him. I am deeply honored to have my name attached to his legacy."

Lewisville ISD Education Foundation (LEF) partnered with the Verizon Foundation and the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) to award Lewisville ISD's Lewisville High School Killough (Killough) Campus with the Verizon Innovative Learning School Grant.

The application process was rigorous, only 12 schools were selected nationwide, but the payoff was amazing. Over the last two years a total of $75,000 - $65,000 from Verizon Foundation and $10,000 from LEF - was invested in students and teachers at Killough through this grant.

"The rules of the grant say that the money absolutely can't be spent on technology," Killough Verizon Technology Coach Natalie Spangler said. "At first that sounds odd, but then you realize what a tremendous growth opportunity this is for the educators involved. Rather than funding a product that will go by the wayside with the next big release, the grant funds an investment in the teachers who will educate Killough students for years to come."

Beginning in the summer of 2012, math and science teachers from Killough are participating in intensive professional development to help them leverage innovative

technologies to improve student outcomes in STEM : Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Strong STEM education is widely viewed as the key to producing future-ready learners who are prepared to meet the challenges of the ever-changing global community they will lead as adults.

"The professional development offered through this grant is both excellent, and plentiful," Spangler said. "We are offered multiple webinar choices on a daily basis as well as seminars over the summer."

Technology has always been a fast-changing field, but those changes have become bigger and more frequent in recent years, leaving even the newest and most technologically-inclined teachers with a steep learning curve on how to use new products, and more importantly, how to utilize new technology to increase student engagement and create educational environments that are more flexible and student-centered.

Professional development topics led teachers to implement big ideas including flipped classrooms, digital student portfolios, Project Based Learning and global interaction using technology. It also led to smaller and more obvious ideas - like increased student choice.

"The loss of rigidity, of telling students, 'Everyone will make X,' is a tremendous benefit," Killough Chemistry Teacher Catherine Eckert said. Instead she outlines the lesson objectives and instructs learners as to what they need to demonstrate in their work, but they are allowed - even encouraged - to do it their own way. "The level of comfort increases tremendously, and so does the quality of their work, when students are allowed to use their own tool. And, the freedom leads again and again to students finding a better tool for the job."

Teachers note that students are much more invested and engaged when using technology during the day, and technology use leads to much faster feedback, allowing teachers to adjust lessons to meet student needs more quickly.

The impact of the Innovative Grant sponsored by the collaborative efforts of the Verizon Foundation and LEF was good news to Killough Principal Pam Flores, but it didn't surprise her. "We already had amazing teachers and great kids," Flores noted. "Seeing where they took their learning and teaching was a challenge and encouragement to me. They went above and beyond what any of us expected when we started."

From whence we came... Lewisville ISD Education Foundation was founded in 1990 to enrich the quality of public education in the 13 communities served by LISD and serves as a vehicle for securing private funding benefiting LISD teachers and students. The Foundation was created to support excellence in education by establishing and distributing supplemental funds in designated program areas and supporting priority projects identified by LISD for which tax dollars are not available. Funding does not replace or alter use of funds from traditional tax-base sources. All contributions stay in Lewisville ISD and are tax-deductible as allowed by law. Without the foresight of and foundation laid by LISD administrators and members of the LISD Board of Trustees, LISD would not enjoy the funding LEF provides -- almost $300,000 this school year alone to students and educators in LISD and more than $2.5 million since LEF's founding in 1990. Foundation Focus will dedicate space each month to share the legacy of those who laid the foundation for LISD and LEF to exist as they do today, as well as the stories of those currently at the helm.

A 1940 graduate of Lewisville High School (LHS), Max Goldsmith returned to LISD in 1966 after a very successful 20-year career in Andrews, Texas, where he built from scratch an athletics program that ultimately set national records in track and field.

When he was hired, LISD was home to one high school and one middle school. By the time he retired in 1983, what is now Marcus High School (MHS) was the ninth grade campus for LHS, and things were being put in place to transition MHS into a comprehensive high school and open another comprehensive high school in The Colony (TCHS).

Goldsmith oversaw tremendous growth and change to the athletic programs during his 17-year tenure in LISD. Dealing with growing enrollment and static facilities, planning for future facilities, and adding new sports including swimming, wrestling and soccer earned him a place in LISD history.

"He was really the founder and developer of the athletics program in LISD," former LISD Assistant Superintendent Doug Killough said. "When Max came back to Lewisville the district was poised for growth and change, and he cast the vision for where we could go and oversaw the implementation."

He laid the foundation for LISD athletics to succeed in the face of tremendous growth that would come just after his retirement in 1983 by adding programs and planning for new facilities, as well as putting in place key personnel who would leave legacies of their own.

"Before he retired, he hired Neal Wilson as a football coach," former LISD Assistant Athletic Director Rody Durham explained. "That set the stage for tremendous success in LISD athletics in the upcoming years.

Today, on the campus of Lewisville High School, stands a stadium that was part of his vision.

"When Max was hired in 1966, planning was in the works for a new campus for LHS," Durham explained. "He was instrumental in the planning and building of the athletic stadium on the campus. It was a very modern stadium when it was built, and included one of the first all-weather tracks in the metroplex," no doubt a nod to Goldsmith's background in track and field.

In 1987 that same stadium was renamed in his honor, and in 1988 he was inducted into the LHS alumni Hall of Fame. Maybe in part because he oversaw the stadium construction. Perhaps in part due to his role in navigating growth and change in LISD and leaving a firm foundation on which LISD athletics would continue to thrive in the face of tremendous growth and change shortly after his retirement. But certainly, one of the greatest factors is this homegrown legacy's love of the game and continued involvement in encouraging student success.

“What people may not realize is that Max’s involvement in LISD athletics continues even now, more than 30 years after his retirement," LHS Principal Jeff Kajs said. "In my time at LHS it has never been unusual to see him at school events, such as the homecoming parade. He even sits on the committee to select the LHS Hall of Fame recipient. Of course, it is rare for Max to miss a Friday Night Farmers football game. He’s a man who retired from his paying job, but never stopped encouraging LHS and LISD students and athletes to be the best they could be.”

A legacy of keen foresight, foundation building and ongoing investments in the students of LISD is the Max Goldsmith legacy. Generations of students and student athletes in LISD will be indebted to his years of efforts on their behalf.

Founded in 1990, LEF provides grants and scholarships for students and classrooms in LISD to fund innovation and student success. LEF awarded more than $250,000 in the last year to students and teachers to assist in the pursuit of higher education and greater classroom engagement. Students and educators on every campus are impacted by the generosity of LEF and its supporters.

Join LEF in changing children’s lives and enjoy a great afternoon of golf, food, fun and prizes on Monday, April 7, 2014 at Stonebriar Country Club.

Registration is $200 per person and includes a box lunch, dinner at the club, a cocktail reception, golf shirt, custom-fit golf glove and other goodie bag items. Foursomes can register for $750. Hole sponsorships are also available for $1000.

For more information about sponsorship or participation in this great event, which supports students and teachers in LISD, contact LEF Development Director Mary Worthington at 469-948-2013 or worthingtonm@lisd.net. To read more about LEF, visit lisdef.com. Registration and information available at lisdef.com/golf.

Founded in 1990, LEF provides grants and scholarships for students and classrooms in LISD to fund innovation and student success. LEF awarded more than $250,000 in the last year to students and teachers to assist in the pursuit of higher education and greater classroom engagement. Students and educators on every campus are impacted by the generosity of LEF and its supporters.

Join LEF in changing children’s lives and enjoy a great afternoon of golf, food, fun and prizes on Monday, April 7, 2014 at Stonebriar Country Club.

Registration is $200 per person and includes a box lunch, dinner at the club, a cocktail reception, golf shirt, custom-fit golf glove and other goodie bag items. Foursomes can register for $750. Hole sponsorships are also available for $1000.

For more information about sponsorship or participation in this great event, which supports students and teachers in LISD, contact LEF Development Director Mary Worthington at 469-948-2013 or worthingtonm@lisd.net. To read more about LEF, visit lisdef.com. Registration and information available at lisdef.com/golf.

The Lewiville ISD Education Foundation (LEF) will host its 6th Annual Golf Classic, presented by PBK, Monday, April 7, 2014, at Stonebriar Country Club. Founded in 1990, LEF provides grants and scholarships for students and classrooms in LISD to fund innovation and student success. LEF awarded more than $250,000 in the last year to students and teachers to assist in the pursuit of higher education and greater classroom engagement. Students and educators on every campus are impacted by the generosity of LEF and its supporters. Join LEF in changing children’s lives and enjoy a great afternoon of golf, food, fun and prizes on Monday, April 7, 2014 at Stonebriar Country Club. Registration is $200 per person and includes a box lunch, dinner at the club, a cocktail reception, golf shirt, custom-fit golf glove and other goodie bag items. Foursomes can register for $750. Hole sponsorships are also available for $1000. For more information about sponsorship or participation in this great event, which supports students and teachers in LISD, contact LEF Development Director Mary Worthington at 469-948-2013 or worthingtonm@lisd.net. To read more about LEF, visit lisdef.com. Registration now open at lisdef.com/golf.